Rare plaudits for school board

I was glad to see the recent Pilot editorial tossing a bone to the Newport-Mesa Unified District School Board for the improved ranking of a dozen local schools in the Academic Performance Index compiled annually by the state Department of Education.

I was wondering if any of the people who had been sticking it to the board over the past year for every perceived educational shortcoming would allow any of the credit for this positive news to accrue to board members.

This is not to overstate the progress represented by the new numbers. We still have a long way to go up a complicated road. But if we are to hold the school board responsible for our shortcomings, they should get some credit when the news is positive.

To me, the most distressing note amid this wave of criticism was the almost total absence of any response from board members. That’s why I found trustee Tom Egan’s recent lengthy Forum piece a breath of fresh air. He got below educational surfaces and into politically incorrect deep background.

The second most distressing thing to me was that his essay was virtually ignored, partly because it was upstaged by the Costa Mesa mayor’s journey into federal law enforcement and the Newport Beach debate over a new city hall ? but also, I suspect, because his points are hard to refute. They carried the debate to a level where critics apparently didn’t care to follow.

These board members work hard and long. The results are in plain view. If the majority of voters agree with the critics, they will have a chance to say so at upcoming elections. I would hope, though, that Egan’s Forum piece might show the way for other board members to reply with similar straight talk to their critics.